Citizens and councillors are trying to find ways to keep High Park and Centre Island zoos open, but the clock is ticking.

Posted flyers hang from the llama pen at the High Park zoo. Despite the thousands of Torontonians who have signed supportive pledges and joined Facebook pages, the zoo and its counterpart at Far Enough Farm are sleighted to close in June if a way can't be found to keep them open.

By:Valerie HauchStaff Reporter, Published on Sun Apr 01 2012

She’s been “slimed’’ by gentle Jasper the bison, who shows his gratitude for awesome ungulate treats with dollops of drool. And she’s felt the velvety soft lips of the llamas on her hands.

For Ward 13 Councillor Sarah Doucette, these close encounters of the furry kind came during feeding of these High Park zoo animals, under the guidance of zookeepers who allow this only under certain conditions and during supervised visits by school groups.

Those visits may soon be a thing of the past if the City of Toronto goes ahead with its plan to save $114,000 a year by closing the High Park zoo — which contains about 50 deer, bison, yak, emu, sheep, llamas, wallabies, West Highland cattle and more — in the popular 161-hectare park just west of downtown.

The animal enclosures, which date back to 1890 when deer were kept in High Park, have only enough funding to stay open until June. If there’s no alternative by then, the zoo will close.

The City of Toronto has put out a public request on its website for companies that may want to run the High Park zoo as well as Far Enough Farm on Centre Island, which shelters farm animals and is likewise scheduled to close. The city’s information about Far Enough Farm says a vendor could charge an entrance fee, but no infrastructure is currently in place to enable ticket sales and fee collection.

Doucette said it will probably be difficult to find a business owner to take over the High Park zoo, as the park was deeded to the city in 1876 by John George Howard on condition Toronto citizens always access it for free. Whoever runs the zoo would be able to charge only for guided tours, or for taking photos and gift items.

“Who wants to run a zoo where they can’t make any money?’’ asked Doucette, who has a great personal interest in the High Park attraction.

“I used to take my children (now 22 and 16) there,’’ said Doucette, who has been forging ahead with ideas to create revenue to keep the zoo open. “You can get up-close and personal with the animals here . . . they’ll smell you and breathe you. When I fed Jasper . . . he was so gentle.’’

Doucette said she has been unable to find out from city staff what will happen to the animals if the zoo closes.

“All I’ve been told is that some animals are on loan and they’ll be given back, but I haven’t been told where.”

Doucette said it will cost about $100,000 to keep the zoo open to the end of December, and “we’re looking for corporate sponsorship’’ to keep it open further.

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